Smartphones are a prevalent presence in all of our lives today. We wake-up in the morning and the first thing you reach for is….? Your phone, right? You check social media. You check the headlines. It’s second nature. It’s a central part of many of our lives. For Reese, that’s not originally the case. Until her entire world crumbles with the failure to make it to a volleyball during an important game.
Author Tara Hodgson is here with her newest release, At Least I’m Trying, which chronicles the story of Reese as her entire life appears to be derailed one incident at a time. This is a riveting story that showcases the struggles of a high school girl about to graduate.
You’ll witness her family struggles, her friendships crumble, and how she gets swept up into a dangerous situation that could have cost her her life. Prepare to be glued to the pages in this gripping and realistic fiction novel.
At Least I’m Trying draws the eye with a bouquet of pale purple roses dominating the cover. They are absolutely beautiful to look at with some paler colored roses sprinkled in. In the center of the beauty of the roses…a cage.
A small gilded cage atop the roses. Is the cage a sign or symbol of Reese’s life? Or is it a sign of something more sinister to come? Honestly, this cover is open to interpretation, so dive in and decide for yourself.
Author Hodgson begins At Least I’m Trying with Reese feeling uneasy. She’s preparing for a volleyball game that could decide her future. A scout is out there waiting to watch her play. This could help her land on a team at the college she wants to go to. She feels the need to be successful, not just to impress the scout, but to make her parents proud. No pressure. Right? Too bad she’s highly distracted.
Well, add on top of all of that that her boyfriend, Gabe…he’s absent. He’s been mysteriously silent and distant lately. Is a break-up on the horizon? Does he just need some space? Has he been too busy to deal with Reese lately while he does his own thing? The questions will rapid-fire through your brain as you read these first chapters in At Least I’m Trying.
What happens next…well, it seems to signal a spiral in Reese’s life. She misses that fateful volleyball. By mere inches. It was so close, and yet, ultimately…too far for her to reach it. The scout? Unimpressed. Her one shot? Gone. Her parents? Disappointed.
Unfortunately? It only gets worse from there. Expecting sympathy? Empathy? Some sort of gesture of understanding from Reese’s parents? Not happening. They expected perfection…and she failed. It’s rather jaw-dropping how they behave towards her in situations and moments when she needs them most.
As to be expected, author Hodgson lets us know…this is just the beginning. Piece by piece Reese’s world begins to crumble around her. Even her grades begin to suffer! It’s mind-blowing! On a level you expect her to have a moment. Yeah, take a few days to mourn what once was or could have been, but shake it off and keep going. For sure it’s what her parents expected of her. But when she continues to let things slip away…it creates dissent in the household.
Until Reese meets Cassie Brentwood. Reese and Cassie have never been friends. Heck, they’ve never even run in the same circles. Their only connecting point? The volleyball team. But there’s something about Cassie that piques Reese’s interest, and it all sparks off with Snapchat. Yes, At Least I’m Trying is going to widen this story by drawing in social media. Settle in, this story is going to suck you in.
Told from the third person POV, At Least I’m Trying is a riveting novel to dive into. Author Hodgson weaves a realistic story and manages to warn of the dangers of social media at the same time. What is beautiful about this story is how the warning comes without being preachy. Instead, we bear witness to Reese “falling” for some guy that she doesn’t even really know. Cassie is the connecting point.
Cassie appears to befriend Reese, but is the friendship even real? Or is there something more sinister at play? You’ll start to notice news headlines sprinkled throughout the story. Young girls who have gone missing. It happens, right? It’s nothing unusual. However, it’s the frequency that the disappearances keep happening that will start to set off alarm bells the deeper into the story you go and it’s connection to a social media platform.
The question of – “who is kidnapping these girls?” will plague you. It’s a major driving point for At Least I’m Trying. A second driving point is the deterioration of Reese’s mental health. Watching her fall apart a piece at a time? It’s hard and heartbreaking.
She feels like she’s not good enough. Not good enough for the team. Not good enough for her parents. Not good enough for her now ex-boyfriend. She starts questioning her friendship with her best friend, Willow. It’s hard to watch Reese struggle the way that she does. It’s hard watching the person she thought she was…crumble to pieces.
The way that At Least I’m Trying is written you’d think that this was the real-life story of someone. Maybe somewhere in the world…it is. But At Least I’m Trying is the fictitious story of a young woman preparing to graduate high school in Canada.
Things get really intense when Liam enters the picture. Liam is a side character who comes to play a huge role in Reese’s life. Readers will find themselves alarmed at how he insistently pursues her in At Least I’m Trying. The love bombing is eye-opening, but the flip-outs he has towards others trying to protect Reese? Mind-blowing.
At Least I’m Trying is a shockingly captivating novel that details Reese’s struggles with herself as the person she thought she was falls apart. With it she chooses to shed all the aspects that she felt were obligations to those around her. In the process, she unwittingly sets herself up to be prey for a predator.
Author Hodgson touches on some really dark elements in At Least I’m Trying. We’re not sure if there are any “trigger warnings” in the book, but we caution readers who choose to pick this book up. There is drug usage and sexual content (consensual and non). Author Hodgson takes great care to make sure that nothing is graphic or explicit. You know what’s happening, but author Hodgson refrains from going into detail.
If we had to say who we think should read this book or who we think the target audience is…we’d recommend this book to pretty much everyone. Especially teens and young adults. There is a healthy lesson to be found in Reese’s story and it’s wrapped up in a story that will keep you page-turning to the end.
At Least I’m Trying ends in a rather open-ended style. We say this because while there is salvation, there is no true resolution. We feel that this leaves room for more, and honestly? We’re here for it! We’d love to read more of Reese’s story and find out what happens next not just with her, but her family, friendships, and the people who caused her such harm.
We’re hopeful that author Hodgson will write a follow-up story to At Least I’m Trying, but only time will tell. If you’re looking for a gripping novel that tells a moving story about a young woman’s struggles with failure, then we can’t recommend At Least I’m Trying enough.
Pros:
- Gripping storyline
- Realistic characters and situations.
- Page-turner
- Emotionally engaging
Cons:
- None of merit
Scribble's Worth 